Interesting stats about levels of driving in the US. Overall it's down 8.75% since 2005. Pretty amazing given that the population has grown significantly since then. This Washington Post article surmises that the causes of this may be as much social/cultural as economic. Sure gas is more expensive, and employment has been growing only modestly, especially for young people, but still this doesn't account for all the change. Some of it may be the desire to live differently, away from suburban sprawl, and in large older urban centres that offer, among many social amenities, transportation options other than driving. Some of this may be the closer proximity and higher densities that obviate the need for extensive travel, in addition to transit and cycling options.

Car ownership and and levels of driving have always been significantly lower in Canada than the US. This may be surprising in a country with so much geography but the reality is that Canada is a heavily urbanized country, with almost half of us living on the three largest metropolitan regions, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. All three cities have made strides to reduce car dependence, from halting expressway projects in the 70s to today's planning that emphasizes density, transit and walking/cycling. People seem to like places that don't require car ownership, especially young people, who might rather put their pennies towards owning a condo or loft in a live/work oriented neighbourhood. We are voting with our feet, and infrastructure needs to follow the lead, more than it is.

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Hi! My name is Tom Broen and I've started this site to further my interest and begin a conversation on the subject of public infrastructure as a social catalyst. Please check out any of the resources on here and feel free to join the discussion.